Post Published: October 30, 2022

“I was looking over last week’s numbers.”

Agnes Milford placed a forearm on top of the padded wall of Caitlyn’s corner in a four-desk work pod. The Senior Placement Manager, and supervisor of the North West Team, was her boss.

“They were high, but I think we can jump.”

Higher Bracket company philosophy was fused into every interaction. Every Higher-Up, Executive, Supervisor, Director, and Junior and Senior Placement Manager incorporated certain keywords into their language. No variation of High was spared. Jump was favored. Climb was acceptable, but at a minimum, because of its close relation to a popular competitor.

This vocabulary was so habitual it could hardly seem out of the ordinary, and yet it always amused Caitlyn.

She glanced across the pod as her teammates, Jan Li and Adam Greenberg, wheeled their chairs from their desks and turned their attention to Agnes.

A tall, fit and attractive blond in her early forties Agnes had a commanding presence. She was a bona fide Type-A personality who never slept before midnight, or past five a.m. She wore pants suits but not makeup. She ran two miles before coming into the office at a quarter to eight each morning. When Agnes smiled even her teeth seemed to have muscles. Her chin-length bob was almost always kept in a ponytail, unless she had a client meeting – in which case she kept it down, donned a dress, and put on lipstick.

Tell me what you think before we both die